If you're having problems with Firefox, refreshing it can help. The refresh feature fixes many issues by restoring Firefox to its default state while saving your essential information like bookmarks, passwords, and open tabs.

To continue, click Refresh Firefox in the confirmation window that opens.

Firefox will close to refresh itself. When finished, a window will list your imported information. Click Finish and Firefox will open.

Note: There's also a Refresh Firefox button in the Firefox Safe Mode window, if you can't start Firefox normally. If you are unable to find the Refresh Firefox button on your version of Firefox, you can also do a manual refresh by creating a new profile. See instructions on how to create a new profile.

What does the refresh feature do?

All of your Firefox settings and personal information are stored in a profile folder. The refresh feature works by creating a new profile folder for you while saving your important data.

Add-ons which are normally stored inside the Firefox profile folder, such as extensions and themes, will be removed. Add-ons stored in other locations, such as plugins, will not be removed but any modified preferences (such as plugins you have disabled) will be reset.

Note: Your old Firefox profile will be placed on your desktop in a folder named "Old Firefox Data". If the resetrefresh didn't fix your problem you can restore some of the information not saved by copying files to the new profile that was created. If you don't need this folder any longer, you should delete it as it contains sensitive information.

This article, like all Firefox support, is brought to you mostly by volunteers, who keep Mozilla proudly independent and open source. Keep browsing freely!